Bugs: 100s--Tenants: 0

Despite chemical warfare and an explosion, the roaches won this battle.

Dennis Welch just wanted to get the roaches out of his Lancaster apartment when he set off nine “bug bombs” there Tuesday, firefighters said.

Instead, the bugs--hundreds of them--are still there, but Welch and his family had to move out after a pilot light on their stove ignited the gas from the bug bombs, also known as insect foggers, firefighters said.

The explosion occurred about 12:45 p.m. in the 45000 block of North Beech Street near Lancaster Boulevard.

There were no injuries because Welch and his family left the apartment immediately after the foggers were set off, said Chuck Failla of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

“If they had been inside, they would have been hurt,” Failla said.

“It blew the windows out. It blew the doors off their hinges. It blew parts of the ceiling off. It blew the kitchen cabinets off the wall. It did some damage.”

Officials estimated damage at $10,000.

Welch, who was not available for comment, was told by county health officials to move his family out of the apartment after the explosion, Failla said.

Four other apartments in the complex were evacuated just after the explosion, but residents there were allowed to return a few hours later, he said.

The apartment owner, Michael Topf of Canyon Country, did not return phone calls from The Times on Tuesday.

One bug bomb would have been sufficient to safely clear up the roach problem in the two-bedroom apartment, Failla said.

“He might have killed a few of them, but there were plenty of them there when I got there. I saw hundreds of them running up and down the walls,” Failla said.

“I guess they won this time.”